ObamaCare Tax Causes Additional Layoffs

Feb. 01, 2013

As if today’s announcement from the Obama administration regarding the minor changes to the Affordable Care Act was not depressing enough, a global medical company called Smith and Nephew has now said that they are going to layoff nearly 100 workers in their Tennessee and Massachusetts offices. The company cites ObamaCare as their reason why.

"Unfortunately, and in order to absorb this cost burden into our business, this has meant less than 100 positions have been made redundant across various departmental functions in our Tennessee and Massachusetts sites," they said in a statement released earlier this week.

The specific cost that the statement referred to was the Affordable Care Act’s 2.3% tax on medical devices. This tax took effect on January 1, 2013.

Similarly, other medical companies have been forced to lay off workers as a result of this tax. Last November, medical supply company Stryker announced it would have to nearly 1,200 jobs, or five percent of its worldwide workforce, and the Advanced Medical Technology Association estimates that the medical device tax could cost up to 39,000 U.S. jobs. So much for job creation.